‘We Can Find Common Ground’ – PM Golding

Prime Minister Bruce Golding, told leaders of advertising agencies and media houses that like the achievements of the Olympians, their efforts can help to unite the nation to overcome issues of national importance.
“We can find common ground when we share in something and where we take ownership of something. We saw ordinary people demonstrating their own extraordinary achievements which came through hard work and dedication. If we can do that in athletics, there is no reason why we cannot do that in so many other spheres of life.” Mr. Golding was speaking at the launch of the Ad Council Jamaica, in Kingston this morning (November 25), at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.
The Ad Council Jamaica (ACJ), is a non-profit organisation and is dedicated to addressing significant public issues through outstanding and sustainable media campaigns to stimulate positive, measurable behavioural changes. Their first campaign is the “Every Jamaican Can” campaign, which seeks to harness the achievements of the Beijing 2008 Olympians to inspire individuals and other private sector companies.
Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Olivia Grange, presented ‘Visionary Awards’, to seven private sector companies which helped to establish the ACJ and support its launch and first campaign.
The Prime Minister said that the objective of the campaign is to inspire more Jamaicans to believe that as a nation, we can overcome any obstacle.
“This message to every Jamaican is that we do not have to be as awful to each other and be as violent a society as we are. We can be as good as the best and better than the rest. The athletes have demonstrated. Let us send out the message with every conviction that we can muster, that there is no goal that we can set that is going to be too high.”
Director of the Advertising Agency Association Jamaica (AAAJ) and the Ad Council Jamaica, Andrew Rousseau, thanked the Prime Minister for his leadership in helping to ensure that the Council developed from an idea into a viable organisation. He noted that the ACJ will not only harness the skills and talents of advertisers, but also market research professionals so that campaign effects can be measured and evaluated.